Season basketball tickets arrive along with refunds

When many students checked their mailboxes Monday, they found the envelope that has been the cause of much controversy over the last few weeks. \nContained within those envelopes were the season tickets for the 2002-2003 men's basketball season. Each envelope had either six or seven tickets, as well a note from the IU Athletic Ticket Office explaining the reason for the decrease in season tickets per student.\n"Based on the success of our basketball team in the early 1970s, the University community expressed desire for all students to watch and enjoy Indiana basketball each year as a part of their on-campus experience," the IU Athletic Ticket Office note said.\nAs students ripped open the envelopes, they found out which games they will have tickets for, while sitting in the 7,800 seat student section of Assembly Hall.\nTheir reactions were mixed; most were either satisfied with the games they received, displeased with their seats or not happy they were not receiving the entire 10-game home package. Others were dissatisfied with the games they got, their seats, and the fact they were not receiving the 10 tickets promised at the beginning of the semester.\n"I was quite pleased," senior Mike Aldersons said. "I got seven games instead of six, and I got the majority of Big Ten games. Out of the seven games I got five of them are Big Ten, so I'm not that upset."\nAnother cause for concern that has resulted from the ticket selection process is that groups of students are being split up between games and seats.\nSenior Joel Keirns and his group of 12 people have been split up by games and by seats. \n"I'm satisfied with the games I got, but I'm not so satisfied with the group being divided," Keirns said. \nHe said the group did not all get the same games, and for the ones that they do have together, they are not sitting as a 12-man group.\n"I think there needs to be senior priority," he said. "Had I gotten a worse ticket selection, I would be more upset." \nThe 10 games that students were eligible to receive were: North Texas, Dec. 1; Illinois-Chicago, Dec. 7; Vanderbilt, Dec. 9; Northwestern, Jan. 15; Illinois, Jan. 18; Ohio State, Jan. 21; Michigan State, Feb. 8; Michigan, Feb. 12; Iowa, March 1; and Minnesota, Mar. 3. Of those, seven are Big Ten Conference games, and three, North Texas, Illinois-Chicago and Vanderbilt are not. Not available in the student season ticket package are Charlotte and Penn State.\n"It is disappointing that we got less than the 10 games," junior Richelle Baker said.\nThe Athletic Ticket Office received a few phone calls regarding the whereabouts of students' tickets, as well as some complaints that were forwarded to ticket managers. \nAssistant Ticket Manager Kenny Roll declined comment to the IDS. \nDespite displeasure for the reasoning behind the reduction in tickets, students are still pleased they are able to watch IU basketball.\n"I'm pretty happy," senior Mike Jaffe said. "I wanted to see Ohio State and I got them. I'm just happy that I got seven instead of six"